Being Prey

Page came back that night with good news about learning healing. The old lady would teach him when he turned twelve if he had the prerequisite knowledge of maths and English. Page had come back with three books which he promptly gave to Feren and told him to familiarise himself with.

None of the three books had anything to do with healing but just Maths, English and some basic magic his parents had already taught him.

"This magic is so dull, nothing practical," the cat purred from the head of the backrest of the seat Feren was reading on.

"Yeah, mum taught this to me before I can really remember."

"Kabe, when did I let you into the house?" Page muttered while drinking a hot drink. He was preparing some hot food for the morning.

This made Feren dart his head up and smile wickedly.

"Your name's Kabe."

Kabe hissed and gently pawed at Feren's head as he jumped off the seat.

"I was trying to leave some mystery here and then the old man has to ruin it like normal." He said glaring.

"Yes well. Sorry about that," Page apologized utterly unconvincingly. "You should come with me today, I've found something up your area of expertise."

Kabe shook his fur with an almost gleeful pleasure. "That does sound like a good time."

"What should I do?" Feren asked feeling left out.

"Read or whatever kids do." Page grumbled. "Just enjoy yourself."

The rest of the meal went quickly with no one speaking. Feren had found something mildly interesting in his book and Page didn't really speak, Kabe had murder in his eyes but everyone chose to ignore it.

By the time Feren looked up from his book the two of them had left without so much as a word so he took the book outside to read in the sun.

The part of the book he was finding interesting was on spellcasting. He had been shown how to perform magic with glyphs but this was completely different. The book said it was steeped in mystery and those that did learn how to cast guarded it with their lives.

It went on into conjecture on what exactly spellcasting is. Apparently the soul had to be tainted in a very specific way for it to happen as those that cast magic did it completely differently to the mages. The book didn't really elaborate too much more.

"Are you a bookworm."

Feren nearly jumped out of his skin but relaxed to see it was just Andrew.

"Where's Amy?"

Andrew looked annoyed while responding.

"She had to help with her mother's bakery. She always has to." His eyes brightened, "so, I came to find you. There aren't many people our age in the town, and I thought you might want someone to show you around."

Feren was torn between the book and going with Andrew. He picked up on this.

"Is the book that interesting, what's it about?"

This caused him to burst out in a big smile, "it's on magic. It's pretty basic going over the glyphs and such you need for magic."

"You know magic?" Andrew was startled. "Not many people around here can use magic with glyphs, just use what we are given. Can you teach me?"

He nodded in response, "of course. But, I want to have a look around the town first if that's okay?"

Andrew looked a bit indecisive now but agreed on the condition that he'd learn something by the end of the day.

The hill the shack lay upon was a lot further from town then Feren had first registered. It was almost completely isolated from any house except for another shack five minutes away.

"This is the old lady's house," Andrew informed him. "She, your old man and the archer get along infamously. That's what my mother says anyway. She is a healer and a good one at that, when the mist plague came into town she managed to cure the people."

"Mist plague, what's that?"

"Not sure, but you hear the stories from nearly all the adults."

It was a further ten minutes until they reached the outskirts of the village and with it the houses looked a lot better built. The architecture wasn't just wooden but there was stone and brick houses mixed in there as well.

"Me and Amy both live on the outskirts next to each other. The others in the middle are either older than us or think we aren't worth the dirt on their shoes," Andrew spat.

"I think I know what you mean," Feren said scratching his cheek a little guiltily.

They stopped outside one of the houses with a large river attached to the side of it, the amount of spirit crystals decorating the forge was impressive and made him gawk.

"This is my place. My Dad's the blacksmith." Andrew said opening the door and beckoning him in. "Mum, I've brought over someone," he shouted.

"Don't shout," said a graceful woman coming down the stairs. She looked him up and down suspiciously. "He seems to be pretty well off."

This made Feren uncomfortable as he looked at his clothes. Even in the city these clothes were only worn by the people in the better off districts, and it seemed that the culture here was somewhat against how he used to live.

"Don't say that, he's from the city." Andrew said.

"I didn't hear about anyone from the city coming into town," she said distrustfully.

"I'm staying with Page, my parents had to go somewhere." Feren decided to interject.

Pity seemed to well up in the woman's eyes. "Poor soul, living with that man. I dread to think what he has you do. Your parents abandoning you with him seems criminal, I'll have to let the town council know about this."

This just made him angry as Page had been nothing but kind to him.

"Those eyes are reminiscent of Page," the lady said. She sighed, "how about you go back outside."

Feren found himself outside the house without Andrew there. There was an argument in the house and before long Andrew had jumped out an open window.

"Your being crazy," he shouted into the house grabbing Feren and running deeper into the town. They ran through the streets and while they weren't as complex as the city streets he was used to it wasn't long until he was lost from all the twists and turns.

They stopped for breath in the square, "your mum is a bit crazy."

Andrew looked at him angrily and then sighed, "Yes she is. Dad says it had something to do with my sister."

"You have a sister?"

"Yeah, used to. Never met her but she became a knight, she got picked at the winter festival. My mum was against it and when we got the obituary she became very protective of me. I'm going to become a knight as well."

Feren leaned against a wall and smiled. "A knight, that's cool. Can you use a sword then?"

"Nah, but my Dad said he'd teach me when I turned seven. He used to be a knight but he was injured so fell back on smithing. What did your parents do?"

"They are researchers for Gillmoore University. They have some new research they had to do past the forest in the outlands, they taught me all the basic magic."

"Gillmoore University… only the best goes there. You must be a special sort."

Feren just blushed and brushed it aside. The green in front of them was beautifully cared for but there were archery targets set up on one side. He'd never seen anything like it.

"Aaah… the archery." Andrew caught on to what he was looking at. "When you turn seven you start going to the lessons with the archer. You don't stop going until he deems you good enough, it sounds like a real pain."

"That's quite odd."

"Tradition, I think."

Andrew went to drag him to off again. "I want to show you the farm, we have some cool horses."

At the outskirts of the other side of the village lay a stables large stables on the edge of some farmland. It was a lot of land for farming but no one on it in the cold field.

They walked through the opening to see a few men and women tending to the horses.

"Hey, Tarron. I brought the new guy." A tall pale man looked up, his ears pointed. He was an elf, even in the city they were a rare sight.

"Wha..a, what are you here for?" Feren stumbled the words, aghast to see a real life elf in front of him.

The elf extended his hand, "I'm Tarron and I hear Page took you in."

He just stood there gawking at the elf.

"As to why I am here. I work here, I also teach archery to the children." Tarron took his unshaken arm and put it back to his sight.

"Can you do something about him just gawking, he might catch some flies."

Andrew nodded and smacked him gently on the back of the head. "So, can we pet one of the horses?"

"I suppose but you'll have to help. Pick up a brush and get your new friend to snap out of it. He looks stupider with each second."

Andrew took Feren to the side and after a few second convinced him the elf was real. With that they went to look at the horses armed with some brushes as they tried to catch up with Tarron.

"Tarron, why would an elf like you come here to the countryside and not the big city." Feren asked.

Tarron lifted a horse hoof and took some knives out to trim them.

"Most elves if they come here come to avoid the mass congregations of our home. I came here for the peace and quiet. Andrew does try to make my days as lively as possible though."

Andrew was gleefully brushing the hair, so he followed suit.

"Elves are rare to find here though."

"In the city you'll never find an elf, in the country we aren't as uncommon as you might think. Though your kind sometimes tries to make it hard for us even in the countryside."

"Our kind?"

Tarron looked at him uneasily but dropped the conversation.

"My dad said all kinds should be respected," Andrew interjected.

"John is a good man. I'll never understand how he and his wife ever married." He then turned to face Feren. "So, boy have you had the pleasantries of meeting the young man's mother."

"My name's Feren and yes, I have met her. She didn't like my grandad." Feren felt a bit ashamed about this.

"Yeah, can you believe the creepy old man has family. My dad found it amusing that his son returned, apparently there's a feud between the two of them."

Tarron looked somewhat stunned at the news. "Does that make you Feren Norwood."

He shook his head, "Feren Palmer. It's my Mum's family."

"You have Norwood blood in you veins though. We'll have to see if your family can still shoot an arrow or two, Page is one of the few who can shoot better than me." Tarron had a cruel glint in his eyes.

Andrew looked at Tarron incredulously, "I thought you were the best shot by far in the archers."

Tarron moved to another hoof. "I am the best shot, Page isn't an archer. He's a hunter, waste of some good talent really."

The conversation changed to food and the harvest for next year. It was apparent that Andrew was gathering information for his parents, but Feren thought it would be useful to learn as much as he could.

It is traditional for the children to help with the harvest and when spring came it looked like he'd have a lot of work to do to avoid. This did show him how his dad used to live back when he was a kid and the prosperous adult he had become.

When they had finished talking they were at the point of various potato variations that were being planned, Feren had no idea and had lost track of the conversation.

Feren had found the horses very cool though. It was a childhood fantasy of his to go riding on one in an adventure, but his parents had always dissuaded him which had led to him going to the church to learn some healing arts.

They left the stables happy after taking care of the horses. It was fulfilling but Feren had got a better grasp of his situation in this town. It was more cut off than most villages so had to be self-sufficient but the King's men would come to check every now and then.

It was peaceful here with few disturbances from the other countries despite it being situated at the border thanks to it being a good place for mercenaries, craftsmen, and pilgrims to stop for rest.

As they left the stables a larger boy followed them, Andrew was antsy from this and lent into whisper in Feren's ear.

"We're going to make a break for the forest in a second."

Feren was alarmed as Page's warnings went off in his head, "we can't."

Andrew looked scared, "we have to. It's either that or we can get some more bruises."

"But it's dangerous."

"Just stick with me, I've done this a few times."

When they started running he got a better look at the boy giving chase. He was a couple of years above them with a cruel grin plastered on his face. There was a maliciousness behind those eyes that made him run faster than before.

The grass was long and Feren's feet kept catching but Andrew seemed to know the way. He must have done this a countless times. As they neared the forest the mist grew thicker, it was suffocating.

As they jumped the fence that lined the village Feren knocked over a scarecrow that faced the trees. He hadn't noticed them from a distance the mist must permanently cover them. They head of the scarecrow fell with a disturbing squelch on the ground.

"This way," Andrew called but it was the mist was so thick he couldn't tell where it came from. It seemed to echo in between the trees.

A more disturbing thud could be heard of their pursuer jumping the fence.

"Andrew, I'll find you and your friend soon enough." Suddenly a candle of flame could be seen coming from the direction of the voice. It looked like it was some basic flame magic, all Feren could think of was getting away from the voice.

With every second he was getting more scared, it seemed like the forest was amplifying the fear he could feel.

While he ran, he kept bumping into trees and tripping, he wasn't very subtle.

The fog was so dark that he couldn't see his legs as he moved. All he knew was the small light seemed to know exactly where he was as it followed.

He suddenly fell on a rope landing face first on the dead twigs and leaves scattered on the forest floor. Scrambling on all fours he kept moving until he fell into a ditch.

His feet could hardly move as the fear started taking over, more and more. Andrew wasn't here and he had no idea where he was. The warnings that Page had made about the forest also echoed in his mind and there was someone chasing him.

The light stopped getting closer and turned around abruptly. He waited until the light was no longer in sight.

Breathing a sigh of belief and got to his shaky feet. He went to try and find the rope that he had tripped over just a few minutes before but it didn't matter how far he went it wasn't there, he searched on all fours as that was the only option to see the ground.

A shiver ran down his spine as something touched his shoulder but what he saw wasn't human or beast.

The writhing mass of animals that was there just waited. The thing that had touched his arm couldn't be described as anything but an intestine studded with teeth.

He started backing away frantically, getting off all fours.

The mass's body started splitting in three separate points leaving deep holes. In two of the holes eyes seemed to shuffle from the flesh into and the third became a large toothles grin.

Feren started running, he didn't know where but away from that.

A loud screech echoed through the forest, it was the mass from before.

Something was giving chase, it seemed to be staggering but it seemed to be three distinct footsteps in the leaves.

Feren came to a hill and slipping he rolled down only to be winded by a tree halfway down. He just sat there curled up in a ball.

The three footsteps didn't run past but stopped just where Feren sat huddled with his head in his hands.

The breathing got louder, the smell got worse and then he felt the breeze from the breathing.

Taking a peek he saw a three legged monstrosity looking at him with the same smile with new added teeth in the mouth. It looked like something between a giraffe and a wolf with the fur and predatory looks of a wolf but the long neck and legs of a giraffe.

It prodded the frozen Feren and when he didn't move it lifted its hoof which was lined with humanoid nails and crushed his right hands against the tree.

The pain shook him and he cried out in pain. Grasping his hand he started running desperately away.

The monster just followed occasionally prodding him to go faster.

It suddenly struck with its head in a biting motion, he threw himself instinctually away.

He landed on his hand making him cry out in pain again.

The monster had cleanly bitten though the tree missing him, but it just chewed on it.

Feren made to run again but its tail struck out wrapping around him.

It slowly changed back into the mass, carefully keeping hold of its new prey.

It took everything he had to focus on nursing his hand which was just a bloody mess as he became wrapped in the mass of flesh.

Then he felt a crushing pressure as it gently eased on more force.

Feren screamed as his bones started popping out of place and breaking across his body. A tentacle of flesh covered his eyes. The last things he heard were load howls from some wolves.